Method and apparatus for making self-locking internally threaded fasteners

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for making self-locking internally threaded fasteners in which the self-locking characteristic is derived from a free-form plastic patch of limited axial and circumferential extent adhered to the thread-defining surface of each such fastener by establishing a deposit of plastic powder upon the thread-defining surface of the fastener with the longitudinal boundaries of the deposit space axially from both ends of the surface and heating the fastener to fuse the powder deposit and establish a patch adhered to the thread-defining surface. The fasteners are each seated upon a pin having a cavity-forming portion such that a cavity is established between the pin and the fastener thereon and the deposit of plastic powder is placed within the cavity. An excess amount of plastic powder is deposited within the cavity and unwanted powder is subsequently removed from at least one end of the deposit to establish a longitudinal boundary spaced from the corresponding end of the thread-defining surface.

3,830,902 ELF- LOCK me NERS Aug. 20, BARNES METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING S INTERNALLY THREADED FASTE v Original Filed May 51, 1966 v 16 Sheets-Sheet I w v.0 6m 3w 6Q QQ\ Wk IQQN vt 3 s s Ffl m m m m% N mm & 3 2 MB m m T .0 D H I & Em

LOCKING Aug. 20, 1974 G. BARNES METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SELF INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31. 1966 16 Sheets-Sheet 2 m n m a a t y Z m5 @EM IEFFF @EQF J ..,..n O .IMWT x INI i w w a g W R G g M mm v F mw m 3 S w m Aug. 20, 1974 G BARNES 3,830,902

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INVENTOR GERALD BARNE QTTO NEYS Aug. 20, 1974 v G BARNES 3,830,902

IIE'IHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SELF-LOCKING INTERN/ALLY THREADED FASTENERS I Original Filed m :51, 1966 I l6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INIVVENTOR v GERQLD BARNES FITTO N E'Ys Aug. 20, 1974 G BARNES 3,830,902

IETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SELF-LOCKlNG INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31, 1986 16 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR GERALD BARNES QTTO NEYS' G- BARNES METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAK INTERNALLY THREADED 3,830,902 ING SELF-LOCKING FASTENERS Aug. 20, 1974 16 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed May 31. 1966 IN GERHLD ENES VENT 5n FIT-F0 NEH/S G. BARNES 3,830,902 IIETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SELF-LOCKING INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31, 1966 16 Sheets-Sheet '7 Aug. 2 0, 1914 0 O O O 0 O o o o o o 0 00 0 o o o OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO v INVENTOR GERALD BARNES H'T'TO NE VS 2 0 0 3 8w 3 G N I K C O i 8 HR n ms IA s Em N E RD R0 A A m H 8% T T GA Y L AL PA P." m DT m D 0 m F 8 I 4 7 9 1 0 2 Aug.

16 Sheets-Sheet 8 Original Filed May 31, 1966 www OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Q wk INVENTOR GERALD Bmewes Aug. 20, 1974 3, BARNES 3,830,902

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SELF-LOCKING INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31, 1966 1 Sheets-Sheet 9 7A Z 154 252V 1 Um- L Ii LI J L lii iil J L liiggil J L ligz ail J S [5? I ma X60 (160 Illl/LJ III II nu O O O O 0 GERALD BARNES FITT NEWS":

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METHOD AND APPARATU 3,830,902 S FOR MAKING SELFLOCKING v INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31, 1966 16 Sheets-Sheet 1Q SITES.

IIHIII IMI] n A Mi- 16 26 flllllllllm mvE'NToR GERHLD BnFaNEs Aug 20, 1974 v BARNES 3,830,902 7 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SELF-LOCKING INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31, 1966 F/GZ? Z 'Tlj.EE I I64 1 6 1 -Q1 J L j r I F I I 30 dgg -A3Z 30 LI IJLI IJLI IJLI "Uu' l6 Sheets-Sheet 1 l INVENTOR GE'EFILD BARNES HTTo'R a? w& 1 n w? $7 \wQ NQ 16 Sheets-Sheet l2 v I L Q0? G. BARNES IETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SELF-LOCKING INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31, 1966 Aug. 20, 1974 v INVENTOR GERR LD BARNES FITTO EYS Aug. 20, 1974 BARNES 3,830,902

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING $ELF-LOCKING INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31. 1966 16 Sheets-Sheet l 3 INVENTOR GERALD BARNES QTTO NEYS Aug. 20, v v BARNES METHOD AND AFPARATU 3,830,902 5 FOR MAKING SELF-LOCKING INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 51. 1966 16 Sheets-Sheet 14 INVENTOR GEEQLP- BARNES 1 BY I j ATTO Ev fl- 1974 G. BARNES ETHOD AND APPARATU S FOR MAKING SELFLOCKING INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS 1966 16 Sheets-Sheet 15 Original Filed May 31.

5 R E whd MB D m Y3 S N3 w T l I luv} m W WW HW WI Ill BY HTTOIQNEYS Aug. 20, 1974 BARNES 3, 30,902

4 G. METHOD AND' APPARATUS FOR MAKING SELF-LOCKING INTERNALLY THREADED FASTENERS Original Filed May 31, 1966 16 Sheets-Sheet 16 5 'Q l 3 I o i w co N I Q 5 Q? [U dl H l v Q "1 n I no I Q s 2- n I I 0 Q I a) INVENTOR l CEFBQLD BARNES Y 4 W NEvs United States Patent Office Int. Cl. B29d 1/00 US. Cl. 264-267 48 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Method and apparatus for making self-locking internally threaded fasteners in which the self-locking characteristic is derived from a free-form plastic patch of limited axial and circumferential extent adhered to the thread-defining surface of each such fastener by establishing a deposit of plastic powder upon the thread-defining surface of the fastener with the longitudinal boundaries of the deposit spaced axially from both ends of the surface and heating the fastener to fuse the powder deposit and establish a patch adhered to the thread-defining surface. The fasteners are each seated upon a pin having a cavity-forming portion such that a cavity is established between the pin and the fastener thereon and the deposit of plastic powder is placed within the cavity. An excess amount of plastic powder is deposited within the cavity and unwanted powder is subsequently removed from at least one end of the deposit to establish a longitudinal boundary spaced from the corresponding end of the thread-defining surface.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 554,096 filed May 31, 1966 now abandoned.

The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for making self-locking internally threaded fasteners or other internally threaded members and pertains, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for making self-locking fasteners wherein the self-locking characteristic is derived from a free-form resiliently deformable plastic patch adhered to the thread-defining surface of the fastener.

Self-locking internally threaded members and especially nuts having inserts of resiliently deformable plastic have found wide acceptance in those areas of use where the advantages offered by such fasteners and members 1 justify their relatively high cost of manufacture. Efforts to reduce the cost of manufacture and thereby enlarge the areas where the use of such fasteners and other members would be economically feasible have met with negligible success over a period of many years since the introduction of these fasteners and members. Aside from the higher cost of nuts with plastic inserts, these nuts suffer from the requirement for the formation of a groove or other recess in the body of the nut to receive and retain the insert therein, which requirement tends to reduce the strength of the nut or calls for an increase in the dimensions of the body, as well as an increase in the number and complexity of operations in manufacturing methods and apparatus.

Earlier efforts to simplify manufacturing operations and thus reduce manufacturing costs have led to the suggestion that a preformed pellet of plastic material could be secured to the thread-defining surface of an externally threaded fastener or screw of standard thread form by the simultaneous application of heat and pressure. Such a process requires the use of relatively high cost, preformed die members for applying the requisite deforming pressures to the plastic pellet and a preheated fastener on which the pellet is placed to melt the engaged surface of the plastic pellet. Neither the process nor the resulting product has been found to be entirely satisfactory for its intended purpose and little, if any, saving in cost of manufacture has been found to result. It has been found, also, that the adherence of the die-deformed plastic pellet to the metal surface of the fastener is frequently, because of the elastic memory" of the deformed pellet, insuflicient to withstand the normal shearing and stripping forces applied thereto by the thread of a complementary internally threaded fastener element or nut as it is threaded on the screw. This stripping, or peeling, of the plastic pellet from the nut thread precludes reuse of the externally threaded element or screw. It has been found that if the die deformed pellet is initially properly dimensioned to create a desired locking torque below a maximum allowable on initial application the locking torque on subsequent application is frequently of a value below the minimum desired in a reusable self-locking screw. Undesirable stresses of significant magnitude are created at the metal-plastic interface and these stresses, in effect, reduce the adherence capabilities. The adherence of the preformed plastic pellet to the fastener is therefore unreliable and unpredictable. Moreover, such a method is not feasible for the manufacture of self-locking internally threaded members or fasteners such as nuts since it is exceptionally difiicult to place preformed die members within the bore of an internally threaded member, and especially within small bores, and have such die members perform the operations necessary to secure a preformed pellet to the thread.

Various proposals have been advanced for the die-form molding of complete rings of plastic materials in the thread root area of nuts and screws of special thread forms where the nuts or screws form a part of the molding dies but such processes have been found unsatisfactory as being unadaptable to mass production methods of manufacture and the resulting products have been found unsatisfactory by reason of the insufliciency of the bond between the metal and the plastic to withstand the normal stripping and shearing forces of the thread of the complementary threaded element. Other mechanical and chemical defects and insufficiencies have also precluded qualification of the products as reusable selflocking fasteners.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing a self-locking internally threaded fastener or other internally threaded member in which the self-locking characteristic is derived from a resiliently deformable plastic patch to securely adhered to the thread-defining surface of the fastener as to permit a sufficient number of re-uses of the fastener 3,830,902. Patented Aug. 20, 1974 with adequate locking torque a reusable self-locking fastener;

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing self-locking internally threaded fasteners or other such members utilizing the elastic memory of a plastic patch to maintain adequate locking torque over a number of reuses, which method and apparatus eliminates costly manufacturing operations heretofore required to provide mechanical means adequate to retain plastic inserts in operative association with the thread of a fastener.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for making self-locking internally threaded fasteners or other internally threaded members in which the self-locking characteristic is derived from a free-form plastic patch adhered to the thread-defining surface of the fastener by establishing a deposit of plastic powder of controlled dimensions upon the thread-defining surface and causing the powder to fuse and adhere to the thread-defining surface to establish the desired patch.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for making an internally threaded self-locking fastener or other member of the type described wherein the fastener is seated upon a pin having a cavity-forming portion cooperating with a corresponding portion of the thread-defining surface of the fastener to establish a cavity and plastic powder is deposited upon the threaddefining surface in the cavity and fused to establish a plastic patch adhered to the thread-defining surface.

Other and further objects of the invention are to provide a method and apparatus for making a threaded fastener or other such member with a self-locking plastic patch of such form and configuration, and so adhered to the thread surfaces as to minimize or wholly eliminate the stripping of the plastic material from the fastener element; to provide a method and apparatus for making a metal fastener of standard internal thread form with a plastic patch or coating adequate in size and form and in adherence to the metal surface of the thread to create the necessary self-locking torque when used with a complementary threaded element of standard thread form and within standard dimensional limits; to provide a method and apparatus for making an internally threaded fastener with a plastic self-locking patch or coating having the leading boundaries thereof gradually merging into the thread defining surfaces of the fastener to minimize the stripping component of the forces exerted on the patch or coating by the thread defining surfaces of the mating element; to provide a method and apparatus for making an internally threaded fastener with a free-form plastic patch, i.e., a patch of plastic material formed without application of work shaping or molding pressures, securely bonded to the root, flank and crest surfaces throughout a limited angular extent and for a predetermined number of thread convolutions; to create an internally threaded self-locking fastener with a locking torque within a desired maximum-minimum range of values both on initial application and on re-use; to provide a method and apparatus for making an internally threaded fastener with a selflocking plastic patch of predetermined angular extent and of selected materials allowing adequate resilient elongation and deformation of the-material to accommodate a mating element having thread form dimensions within standard specifications; to provide a method and apparatus for making an internally threaded fastener with a self-locking plastic patch of fused powder strongly adherent to the metal surface of the fastener and ofsuch predetermined, limited extent that non-coated areas adjacentto the patch are adequate to accommodate any excess plastic that may be displaced or deformed by the complementary threaded element; to provide a method and apparatus for making an internally threaded fastener w1th a self-locking plastic patch of fused powder substantrally free from adherence reducing internal stresses;

to qualify the fastener as "4" ..j .f and to provide a method and apparatus for making an internally threaded fastener with a self-locking plastic patch formed by the free flow of melted plastic over the thread-defining surfaces of a predetermined number of thread convolutions as determined by a controlled deposit of powder on a selected axially or longitudinally defined area as well as an angular or circumferentially defined area of the fastener thread.

The invention will be more fully understood and further objects and advantages thereof will become apparent in the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein: 7

FIG. 1 is a plan-view of a threaded fastener ormember shown in the form of a nut constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention; I

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken'along line 22 of FIG. 1; p i

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along-line 3-'3 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 constitute a diagrammatic illustration of a method and an apparatus for carrying out the invention;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a pin employed in the illustrated embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the pin of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the pin of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is an elevational view of an alternate pin;

FIG. 10 is an end view of the pin of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the pin of FIG. 9;

FIGS. 12 through 18 are diagrammatic illustrations depicting a method of the invention, FIG. 18 is on the same sheets as FIGS. 14 through 16;

FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention and is on the same sheet as FIGS. 1 through 3; 7

FIG. 20 is an enlarged detail taken along line 20-20 of FIG. 19; I 7

FIG. 21 is an enlarged elevational view, partially sectioned, showing a hopper of the invention;

FIG. 22 is an enlarged detail, in elevation, illustrating a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 19;

FIG. 23 is a front elevational view of a belt employed in the apparatus of FIG. 19;

FIG. 24 is a bottom plan view of the belt viewed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is a rear elevational view of the belt of FIG. 23;

FIG. 26 is an enlarged plan view supplementing the detail shown in FIG. 22;

FIG. 27 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 27-27 of FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 19 showing the nut aligning means;

FIG. 29 is a front elevational view of the nut aligning means viewed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 28;

FIG. 30 is an enlarged end elevational view illustrating another detail of the apparatus of FIG. 19 showing the nut seating means;

FIG. 31 is a plan view of the detail of FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 is an enlarged plan view illustrating a further detail of the apparatus of FIG. 19 showing the powder distributor;

FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3333 of FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is an enlarged elevational view illustrating a detail of the apparatus of FIG. 19, the detail including the nozzle of the blower means and is on the same sheet as FIGS. 28 and 29; I

FIG. 35 is an end view of the nozzle of FIG. 34 and is on the same sheet as FIGS. 28, 29 and 34;

FIG. 36 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3636 of FIG. 35 and is on the same sheet as FIGS. 28, 29, 34 and 35;

FIG. 37 is an enlarged elevational view of a detail of the apparatus of FIG. 19, the detail including a rotary brush and is on the same sheet as FIG. 20;

FIG. 38 is an enlarged front elevational view illustrating a further detail of the apparatus of FIG. 19, the detail including the heating means and is on the same sheet as FIGS. 20 and 37; I v 7 FIG. 39 is an end elevational view of the detail of FIG. 38 and is on the same sheet as FIGS. 20, 37 and 38;

FIG. 40 is an enlarged elevational view ofstill another detail of the apparatus of FIG. 19 showing a cooling water trough and is on the same sheet as FIGS. 20, 37, 38 and 39;

FIG. 41 is an enlarged plan view of another detail of the apparatus of FIG. 19 showing the stripper means;

FIG. 42 is a front elevational view of the detail of FIG. 41;

FIG. 43 is an end elevational view of the detail of FIG. 41;

FIG. 44 is an enlarged plan view of further detail of the apparatus of FIG. 19 showing cleaning brushes and is on the same sheet as FIG. 17; and

FIG. 45 is an end elevational view of the detail of FIG. 44 and is on the same sheet as FIGS. 17 and 44.

Referring now to the drawing, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 3, a self-locking internally threaded fastener in which the self-locking characteristic is derived from a free-form plastic patch is illustrated in the form of nut 10 having a solid body 12 with a thread-defining surface 14 extending axially along an aperture 16 through the body and a free-form plastic patch 18 adhered to the thread-defining surface 14. The plastic patch has a limited axial and circumferential extent, the length of the patch being confined axially or longitudinally between laterally extending longitudinal boundaries 20 and the width of the patch being defined by longitudinally extending lateral boundaries 22. Each of the longitudinal boundaries 20 is displaced from a corresponding end 24 of the thread-defining surface so as to provide a lead-on thread 26 at each end of the nut for facilitating the initial engagement of nut 10 with a mating threaded stud without interference from the patch.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the radial depth, or thickness of the plastic patch gradually increases longitudinally from either end of the patch toward the middle of the patch. Likewise, the thickness of the patch increases circumferentially from either side toward the center of the patch.

As best illustrated in FIG. 3, the patch tapers from a maximum circumferential width near the longitudinal center thereof toward either end.

The particular configuration of the plastic patch attains a gradual build-up of deforming pressures when the nut is threaded onto a mating threaded stud and the forces, or components thereof, applied initially to the boundaries of the plastic patch in a direction tending to cause stripping or peeling of the plastic material from the v thread-defining surface are substantially reduced or eliminated. Thus, the maximum forces necessary for locking torque are applied to a location remote from the edge of the patch and are ineffectual to effect a peeling of the patch.

The inherent tendency of a properly selected resiliently deformable plastic material to return to its original form permits a substantial number of reuses of the fastener.

Inthe preferred example, a polyamide resin powder, specifically nylon 11, was used as the patch material and provided initial and reuse torques -well within the values necessary to qualify the product as a reusable self-locking nut. Other resiliently deformable plastic materials possessing also certain other essential characteristics and properties, as hereinafter described, may be used in place of the polyamide resin powder and the circumferential extent of the plastic patch and its longitudinal length and taper may be varied as required to obtain initial and reuse torques meeting the qualifying standards or specifications for reusable self-locking nuts.

Lock nut 10 is manufactured by establishing a deposit of plastic powder upon the thread-defining surface of a standard nut and heating the body of the nut and the powder deposit to fuse the powder deposit and establish the plastic patch adhered to the thread-defining surface. Thus, the present invention may be practiced with nuts of standard manufacture. When starting with such a nut, it is preferable'to first dip it in a weak acid solution to remove dirt, grease and other foreign matter and to provide clean and, where necessary, roughened, thread-defining surfaces so as to assure maximum wetting of the thread surface by the plastic material when in melted condition and thereby assure firm adherence of the plastic to the body of the nut. A metered quantity of fine plastic powder is then deposited on the nut thread in such amount and so distributed that when melted the plastic will, under the action of gravity, and as determined by surface tension, take the form and configuration described above.

Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5, both a method and apparatus of the invention are illustrated diagrammatically to show the progress of a nut 30 through various stations which perform a series of operations, each of which will be described in detail below. Each nut 30 is placed upon a pin 32 and the pin is preferably transported through the apparatus to present the nut to the various stations which must perform the desired operations upon the nut. In the preferred apparatus a series of pins 32 is fixed to carrier means shown in the form of an endless belt 34 which moves continuously to transport each pin 32 and the nut 30 carried thereon through the various stations. Initially nuts 30 are fed by feed means 36 in synchronism with the movement of the belt 34 so that one nut is placed upon each pin. A typical pin 32 is illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 8 and is seen to include a shank portion 40 which is fixed to the belt 34 in a manner which will be more fully described below and an arbor portion 42 of reduced diameter projecting therefrom, the diameter of the arbor portion 42 corresponding generally with the inside diameter of the thread-defining surface of the particular nut to which a plastic patch will be applied. The arbor portion 42 is provided with a sealing shoulder 44 and an undercut 46 for purposes which will be described shortly. In the fabrication of relatively small nuts, the undercut 46 is preferably provided with an axially directed portion 48 and an angled relief portion 50. When working with larger nuts the undercut may have a single-angled surface such as that illustrated in FIGS. 9 through 11 where an alternative pin 52 is shown having a shank portion' 54 and an arbor portion 56, the arbor portion 56 being provided with a sealing shoulder 58 and a singleangled undercut 60.

Following, now, a single nut 30 through the method and apparatus of the invention, the nut is first placed upon a pin 32 by the engagement of the arbor portion 42 of the pin within the aperture of the nut. If the nut 30 is not already oriented with one of the flat wrench faces 62 (also see FIGS. 28 and 29) facing downwardly, the nut is reoriented by a nut alignment means 64 (see FIG. 4) to assure that a wrench face 62 faces downwardly. Any electrostatic charge which may be present on the pin and on the nut body is discharged by a discharge means 66.

The pin and nut are then passed through a nut seating means 68 to assure that the nut is fully seated upon the pin. When the nut is fully seated upon the pin, the arbor portion 42 and the sealing shoulder 44 thereof engage the thread-defining surface of the nut and, as best seen in FIGS. 12 and 13, the undercut 46 cooperates with the aperture of the nut to serve as a cavity-forming portion for establishing a cavity 70 between the 'arbor portion 42 and a portion 72 of the thread-defining surface of the nut, the angled relief portion 50 of the undercut 46 providing a clear opening 74 into the cavity 70. Powdered plastic 76 is poured into the cavity through the opening 74 by powder distributor means 75 (see FIG. 4) and is preferably supplied in excess of that amount required for the formation of a patch to assure that the cavity is filled with powder. During the cavity filling opof the angle is determined largely by the nut size, which will establish the size of the cavity and determinethe accessibility of the cavity, and the thread form, including the thread face angle, which can affect the distribution of the powder. An optimum angle for nuts of standard sizes has been found to be in the range of about to 50 from the horizontal. In order to remove the excess powder from the cavity and establish the correctamount of powder necessary for the desired patch, a removal means 77 is included to provide stream of air 78 which is directed against the pin and the nut, as seen in FIGS. 14 and 15, and which stream blows away the excess powder and exposes at least one convolution 80 of the thread-defining surface to establish a lead-in thread at the end 82 of the nut. The pin 32 preferably does not project beyond end 82 of the nut so that the flow of air into the cavity is not disturbed and turbulence, which could cause irregularities in the deposit, is avoided. It is noted that a lead-in thread 84 is already provided at the other end 86 of the nut by virtue of the masking of at least one convolution of the thread-defining surface at that end by the sealing shoulder 44. After subjecting the nut to the stream of air, any small deposits 88 of powder on the face of the nut or on the end of the pin are removed by subjecting the nut and pin to the action of a rotary brush 90 as seen in FIG. 16. A second electrostatic discharge means 91 (FIG. 4) is juxtaposed with brush 90 to discharge any electrostatic charge which might form upon the brush. Where extra-heavy nuts of greater axial length are employed in the described process, such as nut 92 illustrated in FIG. 17, an auxiliary jet of air 94 supplied by an auxiliary nozzle 95 has been found effective in removing any unwanted residual powder from those portions 96 of the thread-defining surface extending beyond the end of the pin upon which such an extra-heavy nut 92 is seated. The alternative pin form of pin 52 is shown in use in FIG. 17. Once the correct deposit of powdered plastic is established within the cavity 70, and all excess powder is removed from the nut, the pin and the nut thereon are transported to heating means 97 which will heat the body of the nut and the deposit of plastic powder to fuse the powder, as seen in FIG. 18, and establish a plastic patch adhered to the threaddefining surface of the nut. The heating is preferably accomplished by induction heating means which will heat the external surfaces of the nut body so that heat is conducted from the external surfaces to the internal threaddefining surface and to the deposit of plastic powder. Such a heating procedure allows control over the temperature established in the powder deposit and over the gradients in temperature so that fusion of the deposit first occurs at the thread-defining surface and subsequently occurs at increasing distances away from the threaddefining surface within the deposit. The orientation of the nut with the wrench face facing downwardly aligns the powder deposit with the thinner portion of the body of the nut enabling heat to be conducted from the outer surface of the body to the patch more rapidly. Moreover, consistent alignment of the nuts upon the pins achieves consistent results in that each powder deposit in each nut will be raised to the same temperature, thereby enhancing control in the process. After fusion of the deposit to establish the patch the assembled nut and patch are cooled and subsequently stripped from the pin by stripper means 98.

For the purposes of commercial production, it has been found advantageous to maintain the plastic in a molten state for only a relatively brief time so, that each nut need not be retained on a corresponding pin for an inordinate length of time. Thus, the heating attained by the induction heating means 97 is advantageously limited to that which will fuse the powder particles to one another and; to the thread-defining surface of the nut. After the nut-is-stripped from the'pin', the nut withthe plastic'pateh adheredthereto is subjected to a baking operationwhereinthe nut and 1 the plastic patch-are both heated to a temperaturewhere the plastic once againbecomes molten, andithe temperature is maintained fora relatively long time. The baking operation will serve to'elirninate air whichis ordinarily entrapped in the plastic patch as a result of the brief time at which the plastic remained molten during initial heat ing when the nut was on the pin. The relatively'brief time of the initial heating generally does not-allowthe slow moving air bubbles within the patch to escape. Such air bubbles reduce the adherence capabilities of the plastic to the nut and affect the density of-themelted plastic. In addition, the baking operation, when carried out on batches of nuts, will provide, enough time at a sufficiently elevated temperature to allow. the patches 'on all nuts in a batch to flow and wet the thread-defining surface so that a smooth, tapered configuration as described above is attained uniformly throughout a batch of nuts.

Plastic material of a type suitable for the above purpose will, when heated to its melting temperature, more or less readily flow longitudinally and circumferentially of the nut thread to wet and form a most intimate contact with the thread-defining surface of the nut and will flow into any depressions in that surface. The'melted plastic is of relatively low viscosity as compared with plasticsgenerally; but on cooling hardens into a coherent unitary body or plastic patch extending over the crests of a predetermined number of thread convolutions, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, before the melted plastic has had a chance to completely level off longitudinally of the'nut thread.

Other plastics may be used in place of nylon 11 but it is desirable that such materials have a number of properties and characteristics comparable with or similar to nylon 11, in addition to elastic memory. Thus, at its melting point the material should have a viscosity of the order of that of nylon 11 and should preferably exhibit good wetting properties when in contact with metals. Other properties which need to be taken into consideration are relatively low moisture absorption, high resistance to abrasion, great resistance to common chemicals, high relative hardness, high strength, toughness and resiliency, and low coefficient of friction. Since for many uses, the plastic materials will be exposed to temperatures as high as 250 Fahrenheit, it is preferable that for general purpose uses the plastic be mechanically and chemically resistant to prolonged exposure at temperatures above 250 F.

Other considerations which enter into the selection of a plastic to be employed in accordance with the teaching of this invention are concerned, to a suitable extent, with properties facilitating manufacture of the patch type fastener. In this connection, it is desirable that the plastic be available in fine powder form or capable of being reduced to fine powder form; that it be capable of adhering directly to the material of the nut with a firm bond and require no more than simple and inexpensive preparation of the metal thread surfaces to obtain such a firm bond. It is also desirable that the material have a melting point or flow point which is well below the temperature at which it begins to degrade or decompose so that complex or expensive heating controlsmay not be required.

By way of example and illustration, other linear polyamide resins such as nylon 6, nylon 6/6, nylon 6/10 and nylon 8 have properties as outlined above which are fairly comparable with those of nylon 11. Certain of the vinyl resins, including particularly vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers, also possess the above described properties to an adequate degree and can be used where exposure to organic solvents is not likely. FEP fluorocarbon, a, copolymer of tetra-fiuoroethylene and-hexafiuoro-propylene, possesses the above described properties comparable, and 

